Page:Livingstone in Africa.djvu/54

So full equipp'd, with arduous effort arm'd,
Living a temperate, reasonable life,
I bear a stout heart in a season'd frame;
And emulous of illustrious pioneers,
Nor all unmindful of my sires austere,
I find myself i' the heart of Africa,
Helping the father of my bride to be.

My long life moves before me like a dream.
Behold! our mission-house at Kolobeng:
These labour-roughen'd hands have builded it.
Nor for myself alone, but for the dark
Children of whom I am the father here,
I labour with strong hand, and heart, and soul.
I smelt rude ores; and, fervid as large eyes
Of wrathful tigers, ringing iron yields
Upon mine anvil, hammer'd heartily;
While a bow'd native plies the goatskin bellows.
Lusty and hale, in manhood's vigorous prime,
I startle the lone woods with stalwart blows;
While cream-white splinters fly from stubborn trunks,